Houston Street> San Jacinto

[FRITZ JUENGLING]

Are you sure he you are not confusing Sam Houston with Stephan Austin?  This story sounds very much like Austin's.  Stephan's dad was named Moses and was given permission by the Spanish gov't to start some settlements in Texas.  He died before he could do so and his son, Stephan, carried the plan through (although he finally sided with the rebels, he wanted to work under Mexican law for years before the revolution.)

About Sam Houston: the battle that pretty much sealed the independence of Texas from Mexico is called 'San Jacinto.'  I have seen several documentaries and recently spoke with a native Texan.  All of them pronounce the second word giving <J> its English value [saen dzhuh sinto].  I would have expected [ha...].  Are there any other texans out there who can comment on this? Is the expected Spanish pronunciation also found among native English speakers? What is the 'official' pronunciation of this place and the battle?
Fritz


>>> Frank Abate <abatefr at EARTHLINK.NET> 02/02/03 04:02AM >>>
FYI, Sam Houston, the eponymous dude for the Texas city, and the "founder"
of Texas as a republic, was the son of Moses Houston, who had the idea to go
down and start a republic in Texas, but got too old to carry it out, and
sent his son on this mission, from his deathbed (as the story goes).  Moses
was born in Durham, Connecticut (about 5 miles from where I am writing
this), and the house is still there, right on Main Street in the dead center
of town, with appropriate historic plaque out front.  I have not done the
research on the family pronunciation of the name, but there may be written
evidence from the early 1700s, if we're lucky.  That might reveal how the
pron for the city got started -- or show that it started later, some other
way.

I cannot speak to the Scottish pron of the family name, but I expect someone
else "out there" knows -- so (Bill Nicolaisen, or someone) please post, if
you do know this.

Frank Abate

********************


New York University Press claims this:

http://www.nyupress.org/product_info.php?products_id=2233

Houston Street: For William Houstoun, 1757-1812, of a prominent Georgia
family, who married a daughter of Manhattan landowner Nicholas Bayard
III. The Georgia provenance of the name accounts for its pronunciation
and spelling both of which distinguish it from the Texas city.


--
Grant Barrett
Editor, World New York
http://www.worldnewyork.org/
gbarrett at worldnewyork.org